1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to audioxe2x80x94acoustic testing devices, specifically to such devices which are used for transducing, capturing, measuring, comparing, analyzing, recording and reporting on the performance proficiency of a human, apparatus, or combination that are capable of producing an orderly sound sequence.
2. Description of Prior Art
For many years computers have been used to grade educational and other knowledge and skilled tests. The computerxe2x80x94based testing services market has evolved over the past ten years as a result of a recognized need to provide an easier, more secure way to deliver largexe2x80x94scale standardized tests. The conversion of tests from paper and pencil format to computerxe2x80x94based format and the continued development of certifications in technology industries are driving market growth. It is expected that the test conversion rate will accelerate now that the computerxe2x80x94based testing services industry has become well established and has demonstrated its capability to provide large volumes of tests with a consistently high level of service. It is also expected that the rapid evolution of new technologies will require the development of more training and certification programs in technologyxe2x80x94based industries. The technology certification, professional licensing and certification, academic achievement, and aptitude industries continue to grow at a fast rate. Therefore, the worldwide demand for products and services to satisfy the unmet needs of this industry is expected to continue to be strong at least for the next decade.
Computerxe2x80x94based testing and assessment programs are often delivered through a testing center network; these provide the following advantages: a) They are more convenient, b) they test competency more accurately, c) they provide immediate scoring and results, d) they provide higher levels of security, and e) they reduce test administration costs and personnel demands.
Until now, there has never been a practical means for testing audioxe2x80x94acoustic performancexe2x80x94more specifically, music performance---against fully objective measures of proficiency. Digital technology has already resulted in other devices that in some respects anticipate or move in the direction of standardized audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency testing. However, all existing technology fails to provide any general purpose audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency tests device.
Indeed, proficiency in music has always been evaluated with reference to the performance of musical sequences of scales, arpeggios, and other musical configurations and exercises. In the history of musical pedagogy, in which the need for such evaluations becomes paramount, these evaluations have never been accomplished except by means of subjective or qualitative (as opposed to objective or quantitative) methods. In every instance, the presence of a sophisticated and sensitive musical ear is required, which is found inconveniently only on a small number of living human beings.
Mechanical means of measurement and evaluation were absolutely out of the question prior to the development of digital electronics. In addition, even the advent of these material technologies did not have sufficient strength in themselves to bring about a universal audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency test apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,764, issued May 14, 1996 to Rosen, discloses a harmonic metronome which teaches of a means for structuring the production of metronomic sequences of musical scales, arpeggios, and other standard musical configurations and exercises.
Rosen""s harmonic metronome was the first practical standard for measurement of musical pitch and rhythm in xe2x80x9creal-timexe2x80x9d performance contexts or practice. Therefore, it is a practice accessory (like the traditional metronome) for real musical performance and practice. However it was not able to compare and report on the actual performance of a performer""s sound sequence (pitch and rhythm). Also it could not issue proficiency performance certificates, certified copies of the audioxe2x80x94acoustic performance, performance growth and statistics, or player rewards in game modes, lessons or practice scheduling and training. None of the marketed products or those taught by prior art which might be related in this summary (conventional metronomes of all kinds, musical tuners of all kinds, and the harmonic metronome) have been designed for generalized evaluations of audioxe2x80x94acoustic performance.
With this in mind, the following related technologies will be discussed computer music software, music tuners, metronomes, and particularly the harmonic metronome as it is taught by the above Rosen patent.
Computer music software has featured the use of specialized testing procedures in elementary music education. In those the student is asked to do a specific task, which is then monitored and evaluated. For example, a student may be asked to play a sequence of notes on a keyboard. If the student errs, the program highlights the error and offers a correction. This provides a useful utility for teachers of elementary musical skills. However, it focuses on the particular skills required for very particular and individual musical tasks that are individually designed for a specific pedagogical purpose at a particular point in a larger course of study. For example, a student may be required, in one particular lesson of a piano study course, to press a particular key on the piano keyboard. If the wrong key is pressed, the computer alerts the student to the error. The test is incorporated into the lesson. It is neither designed as an audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency test, per se, nor is it capable of serving as such due to its extremely limited capacity.
Production of an accurate static tone is a good start for a music student. However music is the dynamic organization of sound over time. An accomplished musician needs the following additional skills: the ability to produce a sequence of tones (playing a melody), to match a sequence of tones (playing a melody in key), to produce a tone relative to a reference tone (playing an interval), to produce a sequence of tones relative to a sequence of reference tones (playing in harmony), to produce tones in a broad range of pitches (range), quickly varying the pitch and amplitude (vibrato and tremolo), to produce tones at specific times and durations (playing in meter), and to produce tones of good timbre (tone quality).
A basic ability required of a student of music is to produce and sustain a musical tone of defined pitch and good timbre. This task is easy on an instrument like a piano which mechanically quantizes pitch and constrains timbre. A singer, however, must dynamically adjust their vocal muscles to control pitch and timbre based on their aural perceptions. Similarly, a violinist must adjust their bowing and fingering based on their aural perceptions.
In music instruction, a student""s aural perceptions are typically developed through collaboration with a music teacher who points out, by verbal comment and audible example, the pitch, timbrai, and timing errors of the student. Teaching musical skills are complicated by the fact that sound, unlike paintings, cannot directly be seen and only exist when played. Audio tape recorders allow a student to review their performance, but do not provide any analysis.
A system of entertainment that offers learnxe2x80x94byxe2x80x94example instruction is the Karaoke(trademark) system popularized in Japan. A Karaoke system (literally Japanese for xe2x80x98hollow orchestraxe2x80x99) consists of a pre-recorded audio source, a microphone, audio mixer, amplifier, and speaker. The audio source material, typically a compact or laser disk such as that sold under the trademark LaserKaraoke by Pioneer LDCA. Inc. 2265 East 22th Street Long Beach, Calif. 90810, is specially prepared with musical accompaniment on one channel and a solo vocal reference on the other. The musical accompaniment can be any musical instruments that provide tonal support for the singer. The accompaniment is usually a band or orchestra, but could simply be a piano, other vocalist, or a guitar. The reference channel is typically the solo voice of a trainer singer, or a solo instrument like a clarinet or monophonic synthesizer. The Karaoke system allows the singer to independently adjust the volume of their voice, the accompaniment, and the reference solo voice. Typically a student would practice singing with the reference solo voice and accompaniment. After they have learned the words and are comfortable singing the melody, they turn off the reference solo voice and sing, unassisted, with the accompaniment. More elaborate karaoke systems use a laser disk or CD+G compact disk (a format that encodes graphic images with audio) that display song lyrics on a video monitor which change color as each word is sung (analogous to xe2x80x9cthe bouncing ballxe2x80x9d technique). However, Karaoke systems do not evaluate the singer""s performance and hence the student must rely on their own musical perceptions for guidance.
Electronics devices exist which visually indicate the instantaneous absolute pitch and error of a tone source (e.g. Sabine ST-1000 Chromatic Auto Tuner, Korg DT-2 Digital Tuner, Arion HU 8400 Chromatic Tuner) Mercer in U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,023 (Jun. 16, 1981), discloses a device that displays the instantaneous absolute pitch of a musical instrument with an array of light emitting displays (LEDs) arranged on a musical staff but can only display the pitch of one tone source at a time. Tumblin in U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,853 (Mar. 30, 1982) discloses a system that measures the instantaneous pitch of a musical instrument relative to an electronically generated reference tone and displays the difference (the pitch error) on a column of lights. Neither of these systems provides a time history of pitch nor do they provide any quantitative indication of timbre or amplitude.
Prior generalxe2x80x94purpose audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency test devices were neither userxe2x80x94friendly nor practical in the context of a continuous performance of a widexe2x80x94ranging collection of musical materials. These devices fail to test the ability of a performer to play the right keys whenever and wherever they are required by an designated musical purpose. For example, a historically traditional test required a student to play any musical scale in any one of the various series of keys and configurations that is possible within the art of keyboard playing.
Keyboard playing is only singled out here for illustrative purposes, and everything said here applies equally to playing on any instrument. The discussion thus far has focused on the ability to perform correct pitches in musical sequence. But testing devices have also failed to address another factor that enters into a proper evaluation of musical proficiency. The other factor pertains to the moment in time when a musical key is pressed or when a musical pitch is played in some other way. Prior audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency tests methods failed to integrate both of these two primary factors that are relevant to an evaluation of musical proficiency. A musician must play the correct pitches, and play them at the correct time in order to demonstrate proficiency in music performance. Music is a combination of the elements of pitch and rhythm.
Various devices have addressed the need for precise measurements of musical pitch and rhythm, leading in the direction of an audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency test method. Such devices have been produced under the descriptive category of xe2x80x9ctuners,xe2x80x9d which either play pitches tuned to a standard of absolute pitch, or which measure the accuracy of specific musical pitches played on a musical instrument. Thus, the traditional pitch pipe or tuning fork provides a specific pitch as a reference for the musician who wants to calibrate his own pitch to that of a conventional standard accepted beforehand by the musical community. For example, 440 cycles per second has been designated for the pitch called xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d as a universally recognized international convention.
After the development of electronic technologies, it was possible not only to provide reference frequencies, but also to measure electronically the pitch produced by the musician, and even to compare it with the standard enforced by convention. Thus, many electronic tuners have been equipped with microphone inputs to deliver the electronic signal from a microphone that registers the sound produced by a musical instrument (line inputs are used for electronic instruments). The resulting signal is compared to the designated standard and the result is displayed in some sensible form.
It is important to note that tuners do not currently respond to an input consisting of programmed sequences of pitches from scales, arpeggios, and other configurations of pitch that make up the basic material of musical performance, per se. Tuners respond to single pitches as single events, measured and evaluated as such. Tuners, moverover, do not measure musical time. Tuners address a very specific and partial need to test the accuracy of specific pitches as singular events which is far from being a universal audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency test device. This function is but preparatory to musical performance, a mere matter of putting the instrument in proper tune. It has little bearing on music performance as such, which is comprised of sequences of many pitches disposed in varying rhythms of great variety.
Another related area of technology is the metronome. All standard, traditional mechanical and electronic metronomes provide a standard measure of musical time against which the musician compares own rhythmic performance. The harmonic metronome taught by Rosen, op. cit., does not have a feedback mechanism to inform a performer (test subject) about the incidence or degree to which its audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency performance deviated from a stored reference standard and comparable results from other tests subjects grouped by such profile parameters as age, years of experience and geographical location.
In accordance with the present invention an audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency test method transduces, captures, measures, compares, analyzes, records, and reports on the actual performance of at least one performer""s produced orderly sound sequence (pitch and rhythm). It also issues proficiency performance certificates, certified copies of the audioxe2x80x94acoustic performance, performance growth and statistics, or player rewards in game modes, lessons or practice scheduling and training. The apparatus comprises a performer or sound source, transducer, central processing unit, random access memory, archival storage unit, output printer, user display and user input devices.
Objects and Advantages
Accordingly one object and advantage of the current invention is to provide the first objective method for measurement and evaluation of audioxe2x80x94acoustic performance. It transduces, captures, measures, compares, analyzes, records, and reports on the actual performance of the performer""s sound sequence (pitch and rhythm). Also it issues proficiency performance certificates, certified copies of the audioxe2x80x94acoustic performance, performance growth and statistics, or player rewards in game modes, lessons or practice scheduling and training. It tests the ability of a performer to play the right keys whenever and wherever they are required by any designated musical purpose by performing correct pitches in musical sequence. It integrates the elements of rhythm and pitch so a performer plays the correct pitches and plays them at the correct time. It responds to an input consisting of programmed sequences of pitches from scales, arpeggios, and other configurations of pitch that make the basic material of musical performance and it measures musical time. It provides a feedback mechanism to inform a performer about the incidence or degree to which its audioxe2x80x94acoustic proficiency performance deviated from a stored reference standard and comparable results from other test subjects grouped by such profile parameters as age, years of experience and geographical location. It can be used for diagnosis and treatment of a number of audioxe2x80x94acousticxe2x80x94related deficiencies of at least one living being such has attention deficit disorder, ear training, and creativity enhancement.
In addition, it provides a universal application in the field of music, respecting the dual musical realms of rhythm and pitch simultaneously in the electronic evaluation of a musician""s (or musicians"") performance of any one or a combination of various sequences of musical scales, arpeggios, and other standard musical configurations. It satisfies the need for testing musical performance on any instrument (including the voice), and in any context in which evaluation plays a role, for example:
in self-study or study with a teacher,
in schools where grades based on subjective measures have heretofore resulted in much confusion, argument, and discontent,
in practical organizational procedures or ordinary performance ensembles, such as orchestras or bands where positions within the ensemble are awarded according to perceived merit (or, rather, the highly contested measurement and evaluation of said merit); and
in professional organizations, such as unions or guilds of professional musicians, where players are admitted only if they can demonstrate a certain level of practical proficiency.